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Medical Cannabis has been legal under California law for over 10
years, since the passage of the California Compassionate Use Act of
1996. In spite of this, doctors and patients have still been
inappropriately harassed by overzealous law enforcement, and some
elements of the Medical Board of California.
My article
“Implementation of the Compassionate Use Act In a Family Medical
Practice: Seven Years' Clinical Experience”
co-authored with Mariavittoria Mangini, PhD, FNP
was designed to make MORE doctors feel comfortable making safe and
appropriate recommendations for medical cannabis.
http://www.medboardwatch.com/implementation-of-7-year-plan.htm
(This was published in the Spring, 2004 issue of O’Shaughnessy’s, the
Journal of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians.)
Subsequently, the Medical Board of California came out with their
guidelines in May, 2004 on “California Physicians and Medical
Marijuana”:
http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Medical_Marijuana.htm
re-affirming that “if physicians use the same care in recommending
medical marijuana to patients as they would recommending or approving
any other medication, they have nothing to fear from the Medical Board.”
Unfortunately some doctors and clinics have rejected the appropriate
evaluation of cannabis patients in favor of a 3 to 15-minute "fig
leaf" (i.e.: it doesn’t cover much) and opened up offices next to
dispensaries, and are making recommendations with no credible medical
evaluation. Their poor reputation in this regard has contributed to
a backlash in some areas, and this has contributed to many cities and
counties putting moritoriums on granting permits to new
dispensaries. Those most affected are California's seriously ill
medical cannabis patients.
See my Survey of Cannabis Physicians
http://www.medboardwatch.com/survey.htm
Dr. Lucido's Input to the Medical Board of California
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